One-year-old girl killed after being hit by freight train in NSW country town of Baan Baa identified
A small country town in NSW’s west is reeling after a one-year-old girl was hit by a freight train in what police believe was a tragic accident.
One-year-old Lily Chifor wandered from home into the path of a freight train on Friday night while playing with her sister in the tiny village of Baan Baa, near Narrabri.
The toddler’s family had just moved to the town a week ago.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.For Lily and her sister Aria, there was so much to see and explore in their new home.
Police said the child was playing with a number of other children at the time of the accident.
“Our understanding is that the child was just playing. This is a really tragic case of a child that had gone to play in a bad location,” Oxley Police District Superintendent David Cooper said.
“The child was with a number of other children. The parents were not in the immediate vicinity, but we are aware of where the parents were and the supervision of the child is not in doubt.”
Paramedics rushed the child to Narrabri Hospital, but she died a short time after arriving.
The tight-knit village is devastated by the tragedy.
The only business, a local pub, was closed on Saturday out of respect to the family.
“When it happens in a tiny little village like that, where everyone knows everyone, and a community like this, this is really, really hard to take,” Narrabri Mayor Darrell Tiemens said.
The busy rail line splits the town in half, but the mayor said it was simply a tragic accident.
“There’s boom gates, there’s lights, there’s every safety measure available there,” the mayor said.
The 22-year-old male train driver was uninjured.
He was taken for mandatory testing and is assisting police with their investigation.
